Hollow
by Tainted Visions
Summary: Hacker has a plan to tear the Cybersquad apart. Can't think of a proper summary right now..
1. Chapter 1

**Hollow**

**By: XBroken EternityX**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Cyberchase; if I did, new eps would be out everyday:)**

**Chapter 1 -- " In Desperate Measures.."**

It all had gone horribly wrong. Once again, his plans that had been unnationally flawless to gain control of Cyberspace had been thwarted. All spectre of hope that he would gain the world he longed to have had been snatched from his fingers again. By those brats. Those Earthbrats... and that tin-turkey. How he loathed them. The whole set of them. He loathed them far beyond he had ever loathed anyone -- even Motherboard. Motherboard just stood in the way of him accomplishing domination of Cyberspace; those bratty kids humilated him time and time again, over and over. How did they do it? He didn't know. Perhaps they were just too smart for him?

NO! Hacker mentally told himself. He was smarter than those kids, he was much more clever than them. He sat back in his chair and thought back on the confrontation earlier. The plan he had thought up had been ingenious. He had written a letter to Motherboard, claiming to have captured Slider and demanded that she bring the kids along with the NIC if they wanted him back. The first half had worked out like clockwork -- the kids had showed up, had brought the NIC, and walked headlong into a trap. It wasn't until they realized Slider hadn't been captured did they work out that they had been tricked. They had escaped, destroyed the object, and left Hacker without another chance to reuse the Transformatron. All Hacker had left now was the scars of humiliation and a lot of thinking for new plans to conjure up.

Feeling even more miserable, Hacker turned on his computer, switching to the television option. He flipped the remote until he reached Motherboard's channel, where he turned the volume up to audio hearing and sank back in his chair. There was screaming going on, much like the sound of arguing. Blinking in both suprise and curiosity, Hacker turned the volume up higher, straining to hear what was going on.

" You should have known it was a trap!" A girl was screaming.

Moments later, the Cybersquad appeared on the screen. All of them looked particularly uneasy. The African-American girl, Jackie, was standing near Motherboard, her hands placed on her hips, and her expression of suppressed anger. Inez, the hispanic girl, was standing alongside her, also looking quite plussed. Above them, Digit was hovering over their heads, an expression of disturbance on his face. The boy, Matt, however, was standing near the door, his arms crossed, and he appeared to be glaring in the direction of the others.

" How was I to know it was a trap?" he retorted.

" That's your problem!" Jackie snapped, " you always run into a situation without thinking it through! You could have gotten us trapped, Matt!"

" Don't blame me for trying to do the right thing!" Matt yelled back, " I thought Hacker had him, okay?!"

" Matt," Inez sighed and looked in the direction of the Red-headed boy, " that's why we tried to explain that when you're put into situations of that fortitude you have to check it and see if it's legit before actually going ahead with it. If all your sources say it's fraud, then don't do it -- it's more than likely a trap when that sort of thing happens!"

" Fine," Matt raised his hands. " Since I mess everything up so badly, you can handle Hacker yourselves! You try to do the right thing, and you get the third degree for it!" Without another word and a fit of rage, Matt wrenched the door opened and didn't bother to slam it lightly as he stepped out into the outside.

" Fine, we will!" Inez called after him.

" Girls. . . "

The two girls turned to see Motherboard's face looking slightly unpleased.

" Give Matt time... to cool down... The main thing that you're misunderstanding is that I was the one who made to believe that Hacker had captured Slider. I should have checked and see if we were acting upon false information before I sent you all out to Radopolis when there really was no need to. So this whole deal is my fault, and my fault only. One of you could have been seriously hurt on my behalf, and I wouldn't want that. I should have made sure you weren't stepping into Hacker's web. Your whole expedition today was pointless."

" But Mother B," Jackie began, " Matt just rushed in after we told him that we should check for the probability of Slider actually being captured. We hadn't even formed a plan or anything, Matt just wanted to move right in!"

" An easy mistake to make," Motherboard acknowledged, " look at how many times Slider had been caught by Hacker: at least three times, if I count correctly. And then look at the probability of it actually being true: 3 to the once chance of it actually being a trap. Had we known that this information was false, we could have seen that the likelability of it being a trap was 100. Matt was just acting the way I would have expected you all to act -- but again, the blame is on me and no one else."

The girls exchanged miserable looks.

" I guess you're right," Inez said softly.

But Hacker had already stopped watching. He was flying the Wreaker towards Control Central. He had already figured out his new plan; the plan that would destroy the Cybersquad forever!

Matt walked the permeter of the sidewalk outside of Control Central. Once or twice he glanced nervous glances through the window pane to where Inez and Jackie stood, never directly meeting their eyes. They appeared to be wrapped in conversation with Motherboard, and Digit wasn't paying him the slightest bit of attention. He sat down on the pavement, staring out at the massive Cybergalaxy that was Cyberspace.

" Maybe it was my fault." He acknowledged. He looked through the pane just behind him once again and stole another glance. Inez, he noticed, had been watching him. Once she caught sight of him looking, however, she turned away quickly, but from what he could see of her expression it was a guilty one. But she went back into conversation with Motherboard before he could meet her eyes once again. He saw a purple portal develope in the center of the room. He smiled.

" Guess it's time to go home." He said to himself.

" That's what you think."

The sudden voice made Matt jump and turn around. He screamed.

Inez stole a glance to where Matt sat just outside the room and instantly caught his eye. Ignoring the blush that was swiftly crawling up her face, she turned and looked back up at Motherboard.

" Can you portal us home? I'm going to go out and get Matt."

" Yes." Motherboard nodded, and a split second later a large swirling vortex had appeared in the center of the room. Inez was just about to turn and call for Matt when a sudden scream pounded through her eardrums. She knew who it was before it had even faded away -- Matt. He was in danger! Turning swiftly, Inez gasped in utter shock as her eyes scanned what she was seeing.

Matt was no longer on the ground; instead, he was now standing up and clawing at the arms of someone who had wrapped a massive arm around his bony neck. His eyes met her's.

" HELP!" He screamed.

" Shut up!" A cold voice boomed.

Jackie and Digit, upon hearing this, turned automatically towards the door. They, too, were shocked at what they saw.

" It's The Hacker!" Digit cried.

" He's got Matt!" Jackie gasped.

" Hurry!" Inez panicked, " We've got to help him!"

The trio ran out in time to see Hacker wrestling with a struggling Matt into the Wreaker. Hacker looked up at the sound of their footsteps.

" Well, well!" Hacker sneered. " Come to watch the show?"

" Let him go!" Inez demanded, her fists clenched and her eyes very bright. " Now."

" Or what?!" Hacker laughed.

" Or I'll make you." Inez threatened, her eyes fixating on the Green cyborg's. It was impossible to tell which held more loathing. Hacker's were filled with a mixture of amusement and suppressed joy while Inez's held nothing but anger and hatred.

Hacker smirked as he watched the girl's expression, " I'd like to see you try!"

Inez took a huge step foward. Matt, fearing what would happen if she came any closer, choked out a very scratcy " No!". Inez stopped mid-way, about a foot from him and Hacker.

" Why?" She asked.

" Get out of here before he gets you too!" Matt choked, " Just get out of --"

" Zip it!" Hacker snapped, tightening his grip on the boy.

He moved away from the Wreaker slowly, never taking his eyes off the three figures. He stopped when he reached the very edge of the Cybersite, with nothing but an endless pit of Black down below. Inez, understanding what Hacker was going to do, suddenly screamed, " No! Don't!" Matt was hanging practically off the site and into the air suspended above the endless veil of darkness. The only thing keeping him from falling was Hacker.

Hacker's smirk grew ever so wider, " So, why don't you try and make me now?"

Inez took a step back and growled, her teeth clenched.

Hacker's eyes glinted. " I'll take that as a retreat."

Moving towards the Wreaker once again, Matt still hung in a one-arm grip, Hacker raised a finger and pointed it directly at them.

" If you want to make sure no harm befalls your little friend here, I advise you to bring me the NIC. I'm giving you 48 hours. If you don't have it by the time the clock strikes six tomorrow, one second more, and you'll never see your friend again." Hacker gave a bark of a laugh and walked the rest of the way into the Wreaker, Matt still locked in an iron hold. The Wreaker took off moments later, and Inez fell to her knees on the patch of dirt with forbidden tears trapped beneath her eyes.

" What are we going to do?" she whispered.

Jackie hung her head, unsure of what to say. The NIC that Hacker was demanding had been disposed of hours before. How were they going to reclaim it to save Matt? It seemed hopeless, and God only knew what Matt would have to endure before two days was over...

So what do you think? Good, bad? Want me to continue? Please let me know!

Also: I got the idea for this fic when listening to a certain song called "Hollow". I forget the name of the artist of the moment, but I was listening to it earlier at school and for some reason I started seeing images of Matt to the song.. with a diabolical Hacker! I'm not going to reveal what I'm planning, because then it would spoil it, but listen to the song -- there's a reason Hacker decided to use that exact moment for his plan. In fact, it's one I'm shocked he hasn't done yet -- it's actually a good one for once.. LOL.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hollow**

**By: XBrokenEternity**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own Cyberchase. ;)**

**Chapter 2 -- " Time,"**

" .. And then he got in the Wreaker with him and took off."

They were back in Control Central. The moment Hacker's ship had taken off, Inez, Jackie and Digit had run back into Control Central, all relaying what had happened as quickly as possible. Motherboard had calmed them down, and told them to talk one at a time and slowly so she could work out what they were saying. When they had finished, the supercomputer had looked to the sky, not speaking for a moment, before her gaze dropped back onto her panic-stricken followers and sighed.

" We will get him back." She said simply. " I promise."

" How?" Jackie, naturally, was the first to reply. " How can we when the NIC has already been destroyed and that's what Hacker wants? We can't just go and get it out of a garbage can, Mother B. In Cyberspace it isn't that easy!" She sat down with her head in her hands. " It's impossible..."

Inez looked up at her, and then dropped her gaze back at the floor which she had been staring at ever since they had explained what happened. She couldn't tell what had happened. She was speechless just from seeing it. Not to mention the overwhelming guilt she had deep in her gut was slowly growing bigger and bigger each passing second. If they hadn't upset Matt and had a spat over some stupid situation, would he have gone out? If they had simply just asked Motherboard for help instead of placing the blame, would Matt be stuck with Hacker right now? No! He wouldn't! He would probably be home, safe and sound. But their judgement had gotten in the way of that...

" I feel so guilty!" Jackie said suddenly. So she had been feeling the same way...

" How's that, Jax?" Digit asked, " you didn't kidnap Matt."

" No, but I made him walk out, and if I had just kept my mouth shut and not said anything, we wouldn't be in this situation! _Matt_ would not be in this situation!" She raised her knees to her chest and sobbed. Digit shook his head. He slowly walked up to Jackie and lifted her face with his wing and smiled gently at her.

" It wasn't your fault," he said, " it wasn't anyone's fault but the Hacker's. He was probably listening to what we were all saying and took advantage of that. He's the one at fault, no one else. Not even Matt."

" No, maybe not, but what are we going to do now that the NIC is gone? Hacker wants it within fourty-eight hours, and if he don't get it... who knows what will happen to Matt!" Jackie stood up quickly and began to pace, her expression one of extreme misery. Inez continued to watch her. She knew Jackie felt guilty, but she knew no amount of guilt could surpass hers at this moment. If Hacker killed him, she would never get to tell Matt how she felt...

" What we need..." Motherboard stopped as static cut through her. " ... is a plan..."

" Yes, but how? If we go on a rescue mission, Hacker might trap us,' Jackie said, staring up at the protector of all Cyberspace, " or he might use Matt as a sheild and do something. Come on, Hacker hates us -- what's the probability of him actually letting Matt go unharmed?"

" Slim to none," Inez agreed, " he would do anything to get revenge on us, and this seems like the most logical thing to do. But my question is what does he want with Matt?"

" To use him as bait, if you ask me," Digit commented from the sidelines, " but with the mood the Hacker's in... he's dangerous..."

" I know, that's what scares me the most..." Jackie sighed. Inez stared back at the floor. Jackie was right; with Hacker in the mood he was in now, he was capable of anything... even murder. But Inez knew as she stared out through the window to the skies of Cyberspace, that he wouldn't at least try and kill Matt until the forty-eight hours expired. She looked away, wondering if she would ever see Matt again.

" But for now..."

Everyone looked back up at Motherboard as she spoke. She had been watching them all solemnly.

" I suggest you two get back home. You may need to inform Matt's parents of what's happened, but if you think it's easier to say he's at one of your places might be better. Remember, two days here is double the time in your world. It might make the situation harder."

Jackie and Inez nodded.

" Okay," Inez said. She really didn't feel up to leaving while Matt was still stuck here. But Motherboard was right. Matt's parents would probably be wondering where he was in a few hours time. They had to be informed. But she knew that no matter what they said, it wouldn't make the situation any easier. This feeling was different when Hacker had kidnapped Slider before; now it just felt like a nightmare out of someone else's life...

Before she could reflect anymore on the situation, however, a portal appeared in the center of the room. Jackie gave a deep sigh, said farewell to Motherboard and Digde, and motioned for Inez to come. Inez gave one last look out the window pane where Matt had sat just an hour ago before waving goodbye to Digit and Motherboard and jumped through the portal after Jackie.

He was aching all over. His head felt like it was being split in two. He couldn't even open his eyes. He wanted to drift off again and not be able to feel. He couldn't remember how he had gotten this way; his memories were scattered. All he could remember was being dragged by someone, someone with green skin and metallic-like body. Then he remembered: Hacker. As if this thought had been an alarm, he slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the floor; his face was pressed against it.

_Great_, he thought, I'm gonna be bruised up tomorrow...

He lifted up his head and saw that he was in an enclosed room. The wall was just feet ahead of him. Lifting an aching arm, he pressed his elbow against the stone floor, helping to lift himself up better. Pain shot through his head, and he raised another arm quickly to grab his aching head. He finally got himself into a sitting position with much difficulty and glanced around the room. He wasn't home, that was for sure. He wasn't at the place where he had last been, Control Central, either. He must be in Hacker's dungeon. He had been in here only twice before, with Jackie and Inez, and they had gotten away both times. There had been a way out...

Matt slowly got to his feet, groaning as his weight pushed against his aching body. He stumbled across the room, his eyes sought out on the door that lay just ahead of him. His right leg kept giving the feeling as if it were going to give out, and he didn't realize until he lifted up a pants leg to discover it that it had been bleeding. He winced as he replaced the cloth and limped foward to peer out of the door. He couldn't see anybody, but he knew by the scenery that he was in the Wreaker. Just then, the ship gave a sudden jolt and Matt lost his balance, falling hard onto his back.

" Yep," he grumbled, " definately the Wreaker."

He was about to try and get up again when he heard the sound of a distant voice just beyond the door. He strained his ears to listen; his hearing was going wonky, in and out of focus, and sounding as if he was in a long tunnel. It sounded a lot like Delete, but he couldn't be sure. It was too far away, and his hearing wasn't at the best right now. Another voice spoke, then, and Matt knew at once that it was Buzz. From the heightened tone, he could tell they were getting closer.

" Why does the boss make us do everything?" Delete was saying, " if he's so worried about the kid then why doesn't he come down here and check on him?"

" 'Cause he's busy right now, Dee Dee," Buzz replied, rather harshly, " he's got his new plan to work on. He doesn't have time to be checkin' up on the brat every five minutes. He only wants us to make sure dat the kid's awake and that he doesn't escape."

The sound of a key being put inside the door jarred Matt's thoughts. What was he going to do? Should he just lay here and let Delete and Buzz see that he was awake or should he lie back down and pretend to be asleep? Part of him was going with the latter, but he also wanted to confront Hacker and give him a real peice of his mind. Buzz and Delete would surely report that he was awake, and Hacker would probably most likely then come down, and that was what he wanted.

The door opened before he could make up his mind completely, and Buzz and Delete stood in the doorway.

" Oh, you're awake," Delete said, a fake grin appearing on his face.

" Where's Hacker?" Matt demanded, getting to his feet despite the pain.

Buzz smirked. " Busy with his new plan." he announced, looking extremely proud.

" Well, I want to talk to him," Matt said confidently, " and when he gets down here, I'm really going to make him pay."

Buzz snickered. " Fat chance, kid. The Hacker will come down when he's ready to come down, and he ain't gonna take demands from a little punk like you. If you're all that smart, I'd advise that you keep your mouth shut and do what the Hacker wants."

" So that's what Hacker's after, is it?" Matt said forcefully. " Someone to do his dirty work for him? I thought you two were the ones to do his dirty work, or is Hacker not happy with you?"

He had apparently struck a nerve; Buzz and Delete stood there, silent for a moment. Delete twitched and turned away from him and Buzz's eye twitched threateningly. A split-second later he looked as though he were mastering his anger for he had crossed his arms, smirked and pointed at Matt.

" If I were you," he said, " I'd keep out of the Hacker's business before you wind up hurt. It's none of your business what the Hacker's up to, and what's more is that you can't tell your little friends because you're never going to see them again!"

" We'll see about that," Matt snarled in reply. " My friends will come. You watch. They ain't going to leave me here with your nutcase of a boss."

Delete turned around now and put on a smirk as fake as Buzz's. " They're not gonna come and get 'ya! They're gonna hate you after what the boss makes you do ---"

" Delete!" Buzz hissed suddenly, his eyes wide. He clapped a hand over Delete's mouth. " The boss told you not to say anythin'!"

" I'm sorry, Buzzy! It just slipped out!" Delete said apologetically. He turned on his heel and fled from the room.

" Dee Dee!"

Buzz fled after him, slamming the door behind him. Matt heard the lock snap in place, locking him in. After listening to make sure they were gone, Matt began pacing again. So Hacker was planning something, something to do with him. He had to get more information --- Delete had already let something slip, maybe he could talk him into revealing something else? But he'd have to play it smart, make it appear as though he didn't care what Hacker was up to. He knew one thing for sure -- he wasn't going to do what Hacker wanted. Not without a fight.

" You think he's okay?"

" I don't know, Jax. I just don't know.."

Inez stared at her knees. It had now been five hours since Matt had been taken, and she couldn't feel more restless than she did right now. It seemed like years had passed, and she and Jackie had been trying to think up a plan to save Matt for the last four hours. They had given up and decided to wait until morning when they would see Motherboard. She was the wisest person they knew, and even though their parents always had great advice, they knew they couldn't go to them for this kind of thing; they'd panick, and probably would stop them from going to Cyberspace. And what was worst of all was that they had lied to their parents...

" Well, hopefully Motherboad can come up with something," Jackie said, getting up off the bed to resume pacing, which she had been doing for the last few hours now. Inez tore her gaze away from her knees to stare up at Jackie.

" Yeah.. I just.. I've never been so worried about Matt before... we've never been in this kind of situation..." Inez mumbled.

" Yeah, we have. With Slider, remember?" Jackie replied.

" I mean with one of us," Inez explained. " between you, me, Didge and Matt. None of us has ever been taken by Hacker for hours at a time, and never in the mood Hacker's in now. Hacker used Slider to trap us in Ticktocia, and when he felt threatened when Coop re-surfaced. But that time was just payback on Coop, and I have to say I think this situation is no different. In fact, I feel it's a mixture of both, and we've never been forced into this."

" You're right," Jackie acknowledged, abruptly stopping, " but you've given me and idea, Inez."

" I have? How? All I did was point out how Hacker thinks..." Inez said, perplexed.

" Not only that, but you've given the solution to who we should turn to -- Slider and Coop." Jackie smiled and sat down next to Inez. " You're a genius."

" But what can Slider and Coop do?" Inez asked, rasing her hands and shrugging.

" Coop was the one who made the NIC, right?"

" Right. And..?"

" And he could probably make another one," Jackie smirked, " we've just got to tell him our situation and he'll most likely help us. If we get it early, we can probably bribe Hacker into getting it earlier so we can get Matt back sooner."

" Hey yeah!" Inez's eyes lit up.

" So after we tell Mother B in the morning, we can go see Coop and get that NIC. Let's get some rest." Jackie pat Inez gently on the shoulder and got up off the bed to lie down on her ready-made bed on the floor. Inez smiled in return and let herself fall against her many pillows, still facing Jackie.

" Night, Inez."

" Night, Jackie."

But even hours after Jackie had fallen asleep, Inez had lied awake, hoping that Matt was okay, that he wasn't hurt, or even worse. Hopefully they would have Matt back soon, and they would go back to fighting Motherboard normally. Only time would tell. With her mind set firmly on tomorrow, Inez's eyes dropped and she drifted off to sleep.

Sorry it took so long -- I don't have much time on the computer, since I'm sharing with my mom. My laptop died. . Annywway, thanks to those of you who reviewed. And, a little game: If you think you can guess what Hacker's planning write it in the review. You'll see whether you were right or wrong, and I'll give answers ( but nothing to spoil it, of course. ;) ) and update again soon.


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